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SJ gives thanks for
Thornton
Jumbo Joe extends Sharks win streak with OT
goal
11/26/08 - By Mike Lee
The
Sharks can give thanks for having Joe Thornton on the ice to start their
overtime period against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Thornton
stole the show by picking off a pass in the Chicago zone, dishing it off to
Ryane Clowe 30-feet away, then redirecting the return feed to knock off their
Windy City visitors 3-2 at HP Pavilion. Thornton helped San Jose overcome a
sluggish performance and remain unbeaten in regulation on home ice this season.
Thornton's game winning goal was a climactic finish to a game the
Sharks were fortunate to win. After dominating the opening period, San Jose
went into a shell and had to battle back just to get to the extra period.
"The ice wasn't so good tonight," Thornton said on the interception he
made to setup the game winner. "I think it was just bouncing all of the place.
It's just a 50-50 puck. Sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn't. It
was pretty much a lucky bounce."
The Sharks would have had an easier go
of things late in the game, had they found a way to bury more of their chances
in the 1st period. San Jose out-shot Chicago 17-2 in the opening frame, but had
only a lone goal to show for their dominant effort.
"I thought we
skated very well early, the second period we lost a lot of board battles and a
lot of loose puck battles, and that's not very typical of our team," Sharks
head coach Todd McLellen said.
After throwing a constant stream of
pucks at Blackhawks goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, San Jose began to turn up
the heat. Sharks left win Milan Michalek missed on a golden opportunity with 3
minutes to play in the frame. With Khabibulin already committed, the Sharks
winger tried lifting a puck over the Blackhawks netminder from 5 feet out, but
couldn't get enough lift on the puck.
After surrendering 4 power play
goals to the Sharks last week, the Blackhawks were looking to stay away from
the penalty box. That objective would go out window late in the period when
Aaron Johnson would and Brent Seabrook would draw overlapping minors.
Rob Blake would make those costly penalties for Chicago just 10 seconds into
the ensuing 5-on-3. The big defenseman cranked a blast from the point that
sailed past Khabibulin on a feed from Ryane Clowe. Dan Boyle earned an assist
on the goal, extending the Sharks defensive scoring binge.
"That's part
of our job this year," Boyle said on the defensemen adding to the scoring this
season. "Not just to play defense, but to chip in offensively."
Seabrook's penalty carried over to the 2nd period, but the Sharks failed to
convert. Jonathan Cheechoo almost gave the goal back with a bad pass to Patrick
Kane deep in the Sharks zone. Kane had a good look at the net, but Nabokov
turned the Chicago scoring chance aside.
"I've seen worst first periods
in this building and you have to weather the storm," Blackhawks head coach Joel
Quenneville said. "They're probably the best starting team in their own
building and (Khabibulin) kept us in there, gave us a chance to get into the
game. It was a better last forty for sure, but (Khabibulin) did a hell of a job
for us."
Joe Pavelski just missed after skating past Cam Barker at the
blueline and pumping a shot on Khabibulin 4 minutes later.
The ice
began to tilt in Chicago 's favor as the period wore on. Up and coming
Blackhawks star, Jonathan Toews, would knot the game up at 1-1 with his 3rd
goal of the season after the Sharks gave up a 2-on-1 chance on a series of
mistakes. Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray tried to knock Toews off the puck at
center ice, but missed. Toews would carry the puck up the left wing before
snapping a shot through Nabokov's pads.
A nasty boarding penalty by Mike Grier would give the
Blackhawks a 5-minute power play and would excuse the Sharks forward for the
remainder of the game. Boyle would save a goal during the power play by sliding
feet first into the goal, intercepting a Martin Havlat shot with his helmet.
"It was a dangerous hit, I don't think any dangerous intent was there,
but he was definitely in a dangerous spot," Quenneville said after the
game.
A hooking penalty by Toews would cut into the Blackhawks penalty,
but the really bad news for Chicago would come on the ensuing 4-on-4 when
Khabibulin was injured on a wild scrum in front of Chicago's net. Cristobal
Huet would replace Khabibulin with less than a minutes remaining in period.
Boyle would take a hooking penalty right before the 2nd intermission,
setting up a brief Chicago 5-on-3 to open the 3rd period.
Chicago
would pounce on the opportunity when Toews put the Blackhawks up 2-1 just 23
seconds into the period and 2 seconds before the Grier major penalty was
scheduled to end.
"I'm not sure if we ever regained complete control of
the game, certainly not the way we had in the first period," McLellen added.
"After we got ourselves working again, it was a 50/50 night. We got the last
shot on goal and it went our way."
Patrick Marleau would tie the game
at 8:16 of the period on a wrap-around chance after a persistent fore-check
created the scoring chance. Joe Thornton pushed a pass to Marleau behind the
Blahawks net and the Sharks captain would skate around the back of the
Blackhawks net from left to right, tucking the puck under Huet's left skate.
Again Chicago took the initiative in the offensive zone, keeping the
Sharks in check for the remainder of regulation, but neither team would score.
Game Notes:
Grier's hit will most likely get a review
from the league office. While not malicious, it was a dangerous hit, knocking
Johnson out of the game with an apparent right shoulder injury. The Sharks
allowed only two shots in the first period, marking the fewest number of shots
they have given up in a period this season. Rob Blake’s 1st period goal
tied him with Philip Housley for fourth all-time in power play goals by
defensemen. The Sharks top line of Thornton, Setoguchi and Marleau extended
their point streak to six games. Setoguchi’s set a career high for most
consecutive games with a point (6) and most consecutive games with an assist
(6).
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What did you
think of this game? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| CHI |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| SJ |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Blake 3 (Clowe, Boyle), 19:43 (pp). |
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| 2nd period - 2, CHI,
Toews 3 (Brouwer), 12:43. |
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| 3rd period - 3, CHI,
Toews 4 (Barker, Kane), 0:23, (pp). 4, SJ, Marleau 11 (Thornton, Setoguchi),
8:16. |
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| Overtime - 5, SJ,
Thornton 6 (Clowe), 0:45. |
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| 1st period - Johnson,
CHI (interference), 18:12 . Seabrook, CHI (high sticking), 19:33 . |
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| 2nd period - Grier, SJ
(boarding - 5 minute major), 15:24 ; Grier, SJ (game misconduct), 15:24 ;
Toews, CHI (hooking), 17:33 ; Boyle, SJ (hooking), 19:59 . |
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Shots |
Saves |
| CHI - Khabibulin |
25 |
24 |
| CHI - Heut |
15 |
13 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
26 |
24 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| CHI |
2 |
15 |
9 |
0 |
26 |
| SJ |
17 |
9 |
13 |
1 |
40 |
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| Referees: Auger,
Shick. Linesmen: Heyer, Sericolo. |
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